How can I make a good metal spear head? I want one that is relatively blade shaped, not just a tip. I have an idea that involves bending sheet metal, heating it, and then hammering it into one piece, but I want to know if there is anything easier.

How can I make a good metal spear head? Â I want one that is relatively blade shaped, not just a tip. Â I have an idea that involves bending sheet metal, heating it, and then hammering it into one piece, but I want to know if there is anything easier.

The easiest way to get one is to buy one, otherwise work will be involved. Bending sheet metal could work, but it won't work well, as there is a reason spear heads were forged and hammered. I'd start with something stronger and used for heavier work already, such as the blade of a spade, or if available a knife of some sort. Sharpen, attach (weld and forge as needed), and call it a day.

Rivers of silver, that is my dream.&&Glowing, twisting, snaking, flowing.&&Cooling and burning, shrinking and melting.&&

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Mauro Fiorentini

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Re: Metal spear heads?Reply #3 - Aug 21st, 2011 at 7:23am

As greencheapsk8 said, a forge is needed for making spear heads.I don't have made one yet, but I've made a javelin head, and I did it wrongly, because I heated and hammered a flat bar of iron.For a spear head, I'd use a bigger ingot, and proceed as follows:

Heat one end, then hammer it to flatten and stretch it.Heat the other end, to lenghten it and stretch its sides, thus making the point and the blades still mantaining a central rib.Heat the first end, to bend it and make its sides touch each other.Put a steel round ingot inside, then heat the cylinder until you can weld its sides toghether, and with the rib of the blade (this is optional, you can just hammer these parts until they are flattened, and if you fix the spear heads with rivets to its pole, this will prevent the cylinder to split).Heat the whole thing and then temper it.Once tempered, when the iron is cold, hammer the cylinder to make it aligned with the spear head, and then polish and sharpen it.

The whole work may last from a couple of hour, to a maximum of even a couple of days, depending on the forge, on your experience and on the dimension of the object.It's a funny thing to make, but I suggest you to buy one, if you don't want to get involved in blacksmithing I'm going to make a spear head too, but only after I've done a war hammer and a short sword, the first for fantasy purpose, and the second for my archaeological experimentations.Greetings,Mauro.

http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1312401074 Â Today, I am the weaver. Connecting threads with links. Â You could hammer flat, cut, and then sharpen a piece of cutlery without a forge. Â Or gardening equipment. Â Or make an Aztec style head out of razorblades like a macahuital (a little scary this).

That'd have to be some heavy duty re-bar. I'm not so sure the second method would be strong enough for anything serious. Maybe if you found a pipe with an inside diameter the same as your shaft and slotted it over the slit and pinned it, accomplishing essentailly the same thing as the lashing but on a much stronger scale. I hope that makes some semblance of sense.

Here's one i'm currently working on.This will be cast in bronze and in the picture you can see the ceramic core and the beeswax positive on it.The beeswax has been reused so that's why it's so dark in color.This form will be covered with clay mixed with a lot of sand in it and left to dry,then fired and when the wax is out of the form and the mould is pre heated,the molten bronze can be poured in it.I plan to make a two part mould around it so i might get to use it more than once.Originally i wanted to make a lost wax mould,but then thought that i should try to make it two parts.

That look REALLY good jlasud!Add wax lines to grant the emission of gas during wax melting and bronze casting I have not well understood your speech about two parts mould: if it is a lost wax project, how are you supposed to use again these moulds?It's a great work indeed!!Greetings,Mauro.

Mauro,i was thinking on using the object on the photo to make the two negative impressions in clay blocks.After that,i could take the wax of,and put the ceramic core in it's place between the two halfs. This way it would be a 3 part mould,and after casting,i could take it apart(hopefully) and maybe reuse it.With lost wax casting as you know,it would have to be broken to pieces.But as i'm a bit against destroying my own creation,i thought of making it more lasting.

Also the process you wrote about,when you hammer a soft metal in the grooves of another harder metal is something i'm interested in,and thought about it before.So in case you guys do some photos,i would be glad to see them.

Rivers of silver, that is my dream.&&Glowing, twisting, snaking, flowing.&&Cooling and burning, shrinking and melting.&&

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Mauro Fiorentini

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Re: Metal spear heads?Reply #14 - Nov 27th, 2011 at 3:46pm

Jlasud, you're going to have a PM about your spear head

About that decoration, we MANAGED TO MAKE IT! It's amazing, we never tried it out, and in just the 2nd attempt, we made it!My friend's gf made a lot of picture and a video of us working, so they're on the way in a week or some more There's just ONE other person in the whole Region who has been able to do that kind of decoration!(hey, we didn't do nothing aestethic, just a simple attempt to get an idea about the technique, so don't expect a work of art )Greetings,Mauro.